If there were any concerns the Calgary Stampeders QB might be a bit rusty after two months spent sidelined by a torn pectoral muscle, Mitchell took advantage of the Labour Day Classic to put those worries to rest.

Buoyed by a second-straight superstar performance for receiver Reggie Begelton — who you can easily argue is the best at his position in the entire CFL right now — Mitchell confidently led the Stamps to a 25-9 win over the Edmonton Eskimos.

As far as Mitchell’s concerned, there’s no more reason to talk about the injury.

“Just to make sure I felt good, I proved that in practice,” Mitchell said. “I’ll never change who I am as a player, just go out there and do what I do and lead the team and help give them the best chance to win.”

Mitchell certainly did that on Monday.

He’s won two of the last CFL Most Outstanding Player awards, so it’s not as if anybody should be surprised that he’s capable of picking an opponent apart. But after two shaky performances to start the season before he got hurt, it had to be gratifying for Mitchell to put together a performance like he did Monday on a stage as big as the Labour Day Classic — there were 32,350 fans in the stands for the Battle of Alberta.

The final numbers weren’t staggering, necessarily, as Mitchell completed 19-of-28 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown.

But there were a few moments of genuine Mitchell magic where he made throws that few CFL quarterbacks are capable of.

There was a tricky sidearm pass to Hergy Mayala in the third quarter while Mitchell was under pressure, and his lobbed toss to Begelton in the endzone for a 24-yard TD in the fourth will lead CFL highlight reels until the end of the year.

It was a vintage performance by Mitchell, and helped the Stampeders leapfrog the Eskimos into third-place in the West Division ahead of the Labour Day Replay on Saturday in Edmonton.

“Very happy,” said Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson. “I thought he played within himself and I didn’t think he tried to do anything too special. I think he just let the defence decide where the ball went, he’s very comfortable. He got hit, but he was able to keep making throws. I thought we were pretty balanced, though, which helped. I thought our offensive line did a nice job and against a really good front, really good team. It’s nice having him back in there.”

Mitchell was far from the only standout for the Stampeders.

All three phases played well, and it was arguably their most complete performance of the season, or at least since they dominated the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Week 4.

Defensive tackle Derek Wiggan was monstrous in the middle, picking up a sack and collecting three tackles.

Safety Royce Metchie had his first interception of his career, while Cory Greenwood forced a fumble on a sack of Eskimos QB Trevor Harris — who completed 21-of-35 passes for 216 yards and threw one pick. The defence as a whole was dynamic and caused trouble for the Eskimos all day while keeping them out of the endzone, and that will be hugely encouraging as the Stamps begin to make their playoff push.

The Stamps also had their best rushing game of the year, as Ka’Deem Carey bounced and bobbed his way through the Eskimos defence and finished with 143 yards — that doesn’t happen without great o-line play, by the way.

Rene Paredes also hit three of four field goal attempts, and punter Rob Maver placed the ball exactly where he needed to.

The day largely belonged to Begelton, though.

After breaking out with 173 receiving yards and four touchdowns two weeks ago against the Montreal Alouettes, Begelton was just as dangerous on Monday. He finished with 10 receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown, and also added 18 rushing yards.

Begelton is currently second in the CFL in receiving yards, with 742, and also tied with teammate Eric Rogers for the lead in receiving touchowns, with six.

If you want to make an argument that he’s the best receiver in the CFL this year, you can. Begelton’s not going to do it for you, though.

“I just care about doing my job,” Begelton said. “I don’t care about the stats or anything like that. If I can do my job and we can continue to get these Ws, I’m happy.”

For the Stamps, Monday’s win was big for a number of reasons.

It snapped a two-game losing streak, first of all, and any win in the Labour Day Classic is always a little extra special.

But the victory also secured a win in the season-series against the Eskimos, which could be huge in a West Division where the standings are exceptionally tight this season.

If the CFL season really does begin at Labour Day, the Stamps couldn’t have gotten off to much of a better start.

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